


Change in Perspective

by quiet__tiger



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Back to School, Gen, Identity Porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 05:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10847103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quiet__tiger/pseuds/quiet__tiger
Summary: Wee!Dick has to make an adjustment to get back into the school groove.





	Change in Perspective

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Back To School."
> 
> Originally posted to Livejournal 16th-Sep-2010.

Entering his new sixth grade classroom, Dick Grayson felt as if he were on another planet.

Some of the same kids from last year, only a couple new faces. That wasn’t it.

The room was almost identical to that of his fifth grade class, including the banner with the alphabet letters on it above the chalkboard and a “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” poster on the back wall.

Same place, same faces, same goals. No big surprises.

But it was a surreal moment for Dick anyway.

Or perhaps the problem was that it was a surreal moment for _Robin_.

Dick had been out as Robin a few times towards the end of fifth grade, when there wasn’t much left in the school year and it was okay if he was tired.

But he’d basically spent the last two months _being_ Robin, his regular Dick personality shelved as he patrolled with Batman, learned more techniques for fighting and detecting, and fought criminals at Batman’s side.

Robin didn’t go to school. Certainly not in a regular classroom with regular peers and a regular teacher.

Robin had spent the summer in the Batcave, bats flying overhead as he worked one on one with Batman.

The air in the Batcave was slightly musty no matter how much Bruce had it circulating, the computers hummed continually, and the rocky walls had nothing on them.

This static, standard, boring classroom? Dick was exhausted and unenthused just looking around. And was that a… Yes, a “Hang in there” poster with a kitten on a tree branch.

_Hang in there?_

That kitten had no _idea_ what “hang in there” meant.

It meant trying not to breathe as a thug stalked him in a warehouse.

It meant at least one hand tightly wrapped around a grappling hook or cable to ensure he wouldn’t plummet to the street.

It meant stalling criminals for as long as he could so that Batman could find him and save him before he wound up in a body bag or on a milk carton.

Writing an essay? Reading a book? Doing math problems and simple science experiments? That was all so _beneath_ Robin. Dick could handle all that without having to hang in there at all. He wouldn’t be in that tree, metaphorically or not.

At least, he assumed he could handle all that with one hand tied behind his back. He did escape from Two Face with two hands tied behind his back.

He sat down at a desk to wait to be assigned to one of his own. He’d probably be in front of Ella Greer, and behind Patrick Fitzgerald. Just like last year.

He looked around the room some more, anticipation for the first day sliding away into something more like fatigue. Robin had patrolled past Dick’s bedtime for most of the summer, against Alfred’s wishes but so that he could have a lot of practice while school was out. He’d fallen asleep more than once in his costume.

To go from all that excitement over the summer, real life cops and robbers, training, fighting, learning real skills for real things, helping _Batman_ …

Dick sighed as his new teacher flipped through paperwork. She looked perfectly, boringly normal. No costume, make-up, prop, or gimmick.

Twisting around again to check exit points, Dick felt a twinge in his back. Two nights ago he’d gotten hit very hard in the back and he still hadn’t quite healed. He certainly wouldn’t miss the peculiar level of pain Robin felt after patrolling.

He tried to rub at the spot without drawing too much attention to himself, but the girl next to him asked if he was okay. Make that the _cute_ girl next to him. She was new, and served as a reminder of one thing Dick had over Robin: Dick could talk to girls, but Robin couldn’t.

After the teacher took attendance, she explained that the class would ease into the school year by getting their text books, a vocabulary list, a reading list, and an outline of what to expect to accomplish over the semester.

Dick could handle all that. It might even be fun to learn some words unrelated to crime fighting. And knowing what to expect for the next few months? That would be handy with Batman’s random lessons. Maybe they could even coordinate.

Thinking more about it, maybe shifting back into regular school and being a regular person wouldn’t be such a downer for Dick. For all that Robin was fantastic, there were certain things he couldn’t do, and other things that happened that weren’t fun.

Maybe he could even go for a full week without being taken hostage or shot at.

For all that it was so boring and surreal being back at school, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. With some rest and the chance to learn more regular things, maybe Dick could even be a better Robin.


End file.
